User Manual

Table Of Contents
Materials and Textures
To render a 3D scene, the renderer must take into account the shape of the object as well as its
appearance. The geometry of an object defines the shape of the object, while the material
applied to the object defines its appearance. Fusion provides a range of options for applying
materials and textures to geometry, so you can give your 3D objects the surface
qualities you want.
Nodes that describe the geometry’s response to light are called illumination models. Blinn,
Cook-Torrance, Ward, and Phong are the included illumination models. These nodes are found
in the 3D > Material category of nodes in the Effects Library.
Most materials also accept textures, which are typically 2D images. Textures are used to refine
the look of an object further, by adding photorealistic details, transparency, or special effects.
More complex textures like bump maps, 3D textures, and reflection maps are also available in
the 3D > Texture category.
Materials can also be combined to produce elaborate and highly detailed composite materials.
Each node that creates or loads geometry into a 3D scene also assigns a default material. The
default material is the Blinn illumination model, but you can override this material using one of
several nodes that output a 3D material. Some of these materials provide a greater degree of
control over how the geometry reacts to light, providing inputs for diffuse and specular texture
maps, bump mapping, and environmental maps, which mimic reflection and refraction.
Material examples from the bin.
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